I hope you were in the path of the eclipse this past week and got to enjoy that awesome show by Mother Nature. Florida got a partial view and it was pretty cool. Like I don't love our library system enough already, they provided free eclipse glasses so thanks to them, I was able to stare at the sun and keep my eyeballs intact.

October is still pretty crazy in my world, thus the late blog, which will likely double as a post for last week and this week. Work is thankfully busy, I'm planning for an upcoming trip, and there are oodles of delightful Halloween-y and autumn-y things to do. Do you like my creepy lawn decorations? Cool weather just moved in here so it's possible to go out in the yard and start my herb garden without collapsing from heat stroke. I know, don't be jealous that we get to garden in fall and winter in Florida; remember we have hurricanes and fire ants and one thousand percent humidity for months. We deserve a break.

My weird pain is something in my low back and hip area and it comes and goes randomly. Do you have an issue like that? A lot of people do. The previously-mentioned  gardening probably has something to do with this bout of pain which is not debilitating, mostly annoying. I'm used to feeling fit as a fiddle. (Who came up with that expression? Why are fiddles, of all musical instruments, considered fit?) But sometimes a bit of discomfort is a good lesson for me to remember that many folks walk around in a lot of pain all the time. I count my blessings that I feel well almost always and try to be more patient with others who behave badly, knowing they might be having a massively painful day and that's why they're acting bitchy. 

I got a good round of work done on my upcoming haiku book and am looking at a November release date. Of course I'd like it to be at the start of November, which would be perfect because this book ties in with my holiday haiku book, but it'll more likely be the middle of the month. It seemed like I had so much time to work on my book over the endlessly steamy, hurricane-fire ant-filled summer but lookie here, ha-ha, it's holiday time already!

But I'm not going to stress about that. I'll work as hard as I can and still enjoy my favorite month. October rocks!

What I'm reading:  I need to finish up the Sookie Stackhouse book I started, Deadlocked, so I can get into the book for book club. Even if I don't finish the book club book, I like to go to meetings. Everyone there can recap the book for me.

What I'm watching:  Oooooo! Spooky stuff! Check out Renfield on Amazon Prime and you'll get a kick out of Nicolas Cage at his maniacal best. Nicholas Hoult is a new face to me and he and Awkwafina and Ben Schwartz make this movie delightfully creepy and fun. 
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What made me happy:  I got a new TENS unit for that weird pain and so far, it seems to help. It's amazing how much power those little things put out! I also have an appointment to finally get my ass in gear and get some x-rays to figure out what's going on. Do I need to stretch more? Add extra calcium to my diet? Up my gym routine? Win the lottery, quit work, get a massage every day? I like that last one a lot!

Thank you for reading.

“Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.”  ~Charlotte Whitton

Did I say October was going to be busy? Holy shitshow it's been crazy and we're barely a week in! After a great concert by Killer Queen on Saturday night with my concert buddy, my honey and I had to seize a cool-ish weather day and go for a motorcycle ride. Even though I have a gazillion things to do, like write my blog post, time spent with him is important and especially since he's had medical issues this past week and needs a dose of fun. "I actually feel good for the first time in forever," he said, while he sipped a beer and ate lunch. And that makes my heart happy. (Not really forever; he tends to overdramatize a wee bit.)

Life gets crazy but I try to remember what's most important. Love is right up there at the top. Writing is high on the priority list and I managed a few words on my book today so Go Me! Friends and entertainment are also vital for my health; never any guilt when I squeeze those components into my schedule, so I might as well get used to a month of crazy because there's more time-consuming but fun stuff on the horizon. 

Thank you for reading!

"We are most alive when we are in love." ~ John Updike

Can you tell I have a slight fan-girl crush on the guitar player? Front row seats rock!!!!!